The ugly battle over deceased singer Michael Jackson's children is over. At least for now.
Michael Jackson's nephew, Tito Joe "T.J." Jackson (the son of MJ's brother Tito), was awarded temporary guardianship of the King of Pop's children — Michael Jr. (aka Blanket), Paris and Prince — by Judge Mitchell Beckloff of Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday. The decision removes the children from the custody of Michael's mother, Katherine Jackson.
Beckloff's order says that T.J. has been given temporary guardianship to "provide for temporary care, maintenance and support" of the children.
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Wednesday's ruling is the latest development in an increasingly sordid saga involving the Jackson family. Katherine has been holed up at an undisclosed location in Arizona for more than a week, amid reports of a plan hatched by Michael's brother Randy and several other siblings to cut John Branca and John McClain, the executors of Michael's will, out of the picture.
"We feel there is criminal misconduct," Randy told Al Sharpton on Sharpton's MSNBC show "Politics Nation" on Tuesday night, suggesting that the executors had falsified documents for their own gain.
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During Wednesday's hearing on the temporary guardianship, T.J. told the court that he received a bizarre phone call from the family matriarch on Wednesday, according to TMZ.
"She wasn't sharp," he said. "The pauses, choice of vocabulary … she has not used certain phrases like that before."
Katherine's lawyer, Sandra Ribera, told the court that she believes Katherine is being held against her will.
Another attorney for Katherine, Perry Sanders, said that she will file to be reinstated the children's guardian when she returns to Los Angeles.P
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.